Draw-bar support for railway-cars.



P. M.- ELLIOTT. DRA W BAR SUPPORT FOR RAILWAY CABS.

' APPLIUATIONIPILED rm. 4, 1013. 1,080,509;

Patented Dec. 2, 1913. I

l m .MMNMNI w R W c m xww M; TIM Q v frcfgif l fi z PERCY M. ELLIOTT,

OF CHICAGO,

ILLENOIS.

DRAYV-BAB SUPPORT FOR RALMPVAY-CAIR$ Specificati on of Letters Ia can t.

"tlltlt ted Dec. 23, '5 till 3.

Application filed February 4, 1913. Serial No. 746,115.

To all whom 2'15 may canoe/"m:

Be it known that l, lnrtey M. l lIirao'r'r, a citizen of the United States, residing at: Chicago, in the county of (look and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and usetul linprovetnents in Draw-liar Supports .t'or llailwapbara, of which the Following is a speoiti 'ation.

My invention relates in general to railroad cars, and more particularly to meansfor supporting and automatically centering the drawhars thereof;

Draw-barn of cars must have a limited lateral movement in order that tl adjoining ears of a train may be connected with the necessary flexibility in passing around curves in the track. The drawdmr should, lunvever, when uncoupled occupy a plane alining with the longitudinal center of the ear in order that the couplers nnty antoinati- (ally interlock when adjoining can; are brought; together. It is, therefore desir' able that; (lt'tLW-ljttl'S, while having the requisite lateral play, should automatically re turn to a position alining with the .l )]lIltll dinal center of the ear.

The primary object of. my invention is t provide means for so supporting a draw-bar that it may move laterally in a horizontal plane and will. autoinatically return to its normal central pti sition when uncoupled.

A further object of my invention is to provide means for supptnting and autoniati (ally centering draw-barn. which will be simple in construction, durable in re-e, and ell'ieient in operation.

My invention will be more fully disclosed hereiin'il'ter with rel'ercuce to the :n-eoiupartying drawings, in which the Htlitttt i.- illustrated as embodied in a eonienient and 'n'actical l'ortn. and in which---- Figure 'l is a lone'itndiiutl vertical section through the portions ol the end ol' a car aurronnding the drmv-bar, the latter being shown in elevation: Fig. 2. an nlarged sectional view on line :2 2. l 'ie'. l the butter bcaln bein r omitted; and l ie. a vertical section on line i a. Fig. J.

t' itnilar rel'ertau-e-clntraclcra are u cd to designate Hlttllltl r parts in the :aevcral ligurw ot the drawings.

ltelercnce characters JV and A" t the llilriflllttllllttl center sills ot' a car prel'crahly t'orined ol channel l)titllllh arranged with their webs in vertical parallel planeand with their llanges projecting outwardly.

leaignate ll designates a butler beam at the front of a car, which ia preterahl y reinforced by means of an angle bar I).

1) designates a draw-har, to the rear o'l' which is connected the yoke (Z and at the front o'l. which is provided a coupler (3.

The parts above described do not in them- .-;elves constitute my invention, as they are well known elements in ear construction. They are illustrated in order that my invention may he fully understood.

I l indicates a carrier plate underlying the draw-liar l) for supporting; the Htttlt, through engagement. and preterably located in uubatantially the HtllllO, vertical plane as the butter beams B. The ends ol the carrier plate ll may be supported in any suitable manner. as by means at inwardly extending: llannea ll' and [C which overlie the outwardly projecting lower llttlltljti ol' the center sill channel beams it and .V.

r. designate holts paving through the ends ol' the carrier plate and through the llann'cs ol' the chann l beaniev and alm through the overlying inuardtv t'.\'ltlltllll f f llanees ll' and l) at the ends of the carrier plate. The upper Htlltittt' ol' the carrier plate ll is concave and supports an antil'riction rollin; bearing. nut-h. l'or inflame, as the cylindrical roller l".

i and (1 indicate llangge projecting upwardly l'r ni the lower tramverac edges of the carrier plate I) and l'orining end walls between which the rollin; bearing F i.-; t'iite lined.

ll designate; a saddle havin; upwardly protecting Hltll' llaneea /i*' between which the draw-bar l) i: .-o supported as to htl reel v tnovalde lcngitlulinally uith respe t to the Htttltllt to itl't llllll ltlilit lllt' llHlli'll rcciprot-ati'rnr movctnrutu ol' the draw-bar relatively to the drall llllllll'ln ol' the ear. l)epending from the inner and outer edges of the saddle ll are llanew ll and ll which .verlie the n|nvardly projecting Ilanges ti and ti on the carrier plate ll. 'lhe under ,-,url'a -e ol' the aaddle ll which overlies the carrier plate l l i comex and substantially parallel with the upper con ave surlare ot the carrier plate.

"lh operati n ol' nrv invention is as 'l'olltHftZ Th draw bar tnlvtv inwar'lly and outwardly with rcapect lo the car in its umzal teltlltllt'l. and during; uch inoven|ent it ,-l; le;- upon the saddle ti and between the upwardly projecting llane'e-t l." nd hi there on. The draw-bar is supported by the saddle upon the carrier plate E through themedium of the interposed rolling bearing F. The lateral movements of the draw-bar are communicated to the saddle H so that it will move laterally between the centersills A, A The lateral movements of the saddle produce arolling movement of the bear ing F between the upper surface of the carrier plate and lower surface of the saddle, so that the draw-bar is securely supported without interfering with its free lateral movement between the center sill beams. Owing to the concave upper surface of the carrier plate, the rolling hearing will have an upward movement when the draw bar is swung to either side of its normal central position, so that the draw-bar will automatically be restored by gravity to its normal central position by reason of the hearing rolling to the lowest point in its concave seatin the carrier plate. By forming the under surface of the saddle convex, it will be observed that the lateral movement of the draw-bar to either side of its normal position will not appreciably raise the drawbar, and hence the engagement of its conpler ,with the coupler on the adjoining car will be in nowise affected. The depending flanges H, H on the saddle, through their engagement with the upwardly projecting flanges G, G on the carrier plate, serve to prevent the saddle from moving longitudinally with respect to the carrier plate, but without interfering with the free lateral movement of the saddle relatively to the carrier plate.

From the foregoing description it will be observed that I have invented an improved means for supporting the draw-bar of a car coupler so that it may freely move both longitudinally and transversely of the car, but will automatically return to its normal position alining with the longitudinal center of'the car and thereby be in position when uncoupled for the engagement with its coupler of the coupler on the adjoining car. It will be further observed that by my invention the automatic return of the drawbar to its normal central position is affected without the use of springs by the action of 2. The combination with a draw-bar, of

a carrier plate having a concave upper sur-' face, a saddle in which .thedraw-bar is supported and having a convex under surface, and a rolling element interposed between the concave surface of said plate and the convex surface of said saddle.

3,. The combination with a draw-bar, of a carrier plate having a cylindrically concave upper surface, a saddle in which the draw-bar is supported and having a cylindrically convex under surface, and a hearing supported on the concave surface of said plate and upon which is supported the convex surface of said saddle.

4. The combination with a car having metal beam center sills arranged with the flanges thereon projecting outwardly, of a draw-bar having a lateral plate between the channel beam center sills, a carrier plate underlying the center sills and having a concave upper surface, means for securing the ends of the carrier plate to the bottom flanges of the center sills, a saddle in which the draw-bar is supported and having. a convex under surface, and a rolling element supported-on the concave surface of the carrier plate and upon which is supported the convex surface of the saddle.

In testimony whereof, I have subscribed (lino. L. Vvuaunson, lluivur A. PARKS. 

